Minnesota Aurora FC show how lower-league women’s soccer can thrive in the U.S.

The USL W League side sold out its first ever game, and look primed to build on that momentum

Minnesota Aurora FC started their existence with a bang on Thursday night as an announced sellout crowd of 5,600 watched their first ever game in the brand-new USL W League.

The Aurora would draw the Green Bay Glory 1-1 at TCO Stadium, the centerpiece of the Minnesota Vikings practice facility. But the result was secondary on a night that showed the potential of women’s soccer, even at the pre-professional level, to make a major impact in the U.S.

“There was a lot of crying yesterday,” Aurora president and co-founder Andrea Yoch told Pro Soccer Wire.

“At the beginning, we knew our families would support us and our friends would support us … but then when you’re watching thousands of people come in and you don’t know them, and they’re wearing Aurora gear and they’re so excited and then they would stop and thank us, stop and hug us, give us high fives. That was very special watching them all come in.”

The crowd, which would rank in the middle of the pack in a typical week of NWSL attendance, represented the culmination of years worth of work and months of buzz and anticipation around a team with a unique backstory.

Aurora FC is a community-owned franchise, with more than 3,000 people having put up more than $1 million to get the club up and running.

“I think we’ve clearly captured everybody’s imagination with our unique ownership, the groundswell, the community support, the grassroots nature,” Yoch said. “People like telling the story and people feel like they’re part of the story.”

Keeping the momentum going

Aurora FC accomplished a sellout in its debut match but the trick now will be to replicate the feat over the course of a 12-game season, including five more home games.

Yoch believes her team is well positioned to continue capitalizing on the positive momentum it has generated.

“[TCO Stadium is a] new stadium, Yoch said. “Most people had never been there. The fact that they got in no problem, parking no problem, their tickets worked on their app no problem – that makes a huge difference for your willingness to come back.”

“We have over 3,600 season tickets sold,” she added. “So we’re already sitting at 80 percent full for our remaining home games. We can get that base and then sell a bit more. We should happily be over 4,000 the rest of the way.”

Yoch credits Lynx coach Reeve

Yoch also spotlighted the attendance of Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve, crediting her with shining a light on the franchise in a similar, if smaller-scale, way as some of Angel City FC’s high-profile owners.

“W were so honored to have these people out there saying, ‘We’re here with you,'” Yoch said. “Part of what’s happening in Angel City which we’re obviously watching is they have collectively brought in the people who can help shine a light on what’s happening. And that’s very much what we’re doing here. Very localized obviously, you know, we don’t have Natalie Portman and Serena Williams, but for me a Cheryl Reeve caring about what you’re doing is incredible.”

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